RAW Preview: 4-time champion to return, Huge title match (August 12th, 2019)

WWE SummerSlam 2019 is officially in the books and even speaking from the RAW side of things - what a fantastic PPV it was! You've probably read enough articles by now about how great the show was, but what really makes it incredible is the fact that WWE hardly has any hype heading into PPVs these days but somehow manages to deliver in a big way.

It was all topped off by an outstanding main event, where Seth Rollins dug deeper than he ever had before to defeat The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar clean, becoming a 2-time WWE Universal Champion in the process.

It's certainly going to be interesting to see what direction WWE heads and after SummerSlam, it truly feels as though we're at the beginning of the Heyman Era of RAW and Seth Rollins is firmly leading the way. Here's what you need to look forward to on RAW tonight!

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#5. Dolph Ziggler takes on The Miz

The match as advertised

The Miz was all pumped up during his contract signing with Dolph Ziggler last week - only to reveal that he'll be facing him on RAW. He tricked Ziggler into signing a contract to face Goldberg at WWE SummerSlam 2019 and The Showoff was baited.

As expected, Goldberg finished the job in under two minutes, only for Ziggler to comedically call him out over and over for not facing him "man to man". Delusioned and likely concussed, Ziggler would suffer another two spears, continuing to mumble incoherent nonsense on the mic.

We don't know how he's medically cleared, but regardless, he's going to face The Miz tonight as advertised. It's going to be an interesting bout and we can fully expect the rivalry between the two to get renewed on RAW tonight.

#4. Who will The Fiend terrorize next?

Nothing short of frightening

Bray Wyatt debuted "The Fiend" and took the entire WWE Universe by storm. A visibly shaken and scared Finn Balor was absolutely no match for Bray Wyatt, who was intimidating from the second his music played.

He has a new aura about him and it's clear that he's not The Eater Of Worlds anymore, especially because he carried a lantern that was moulded above by a version of his own head of the previous incarnation.

Bray Wyatt has 3 names on his list so far - Finn Balor, Kurt Angle and Mick Foley. It doesn't matter whether someone is good or bad, but it seems as though The Fiend is out to completely terrorize WWE.

With Finn Balor likely not returning for a while, it's safe to assume that The Fiend is going to find a new target. While we wouldn't blame him for going under the shadows after the match, Wyatt's history only proves that he will be out for more.

But the real question is this - What is Bray Wyatt's endgame? What is the reason behind his new persona and what does The Fiend have planned in store for the WWE locker room?

#3. The Women's Tag Team titles are on the line

Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross take on a big challenge

As of tonight once their defence is over, Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross will have had the same number of title defences in one week as The IIconics did in four months holding the titles. Last week, Bliss & Cross overcame three other teams and finally The Kabuki Warriors to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

They had an impromptu match at WWE SummerSlam 2019 in the Kickoff show and they took on The IIconics in a rather fun match. Bliss didn't use her usual nefarious tactics and instead relied on her athleticism and teamwork with Cross to beat The former champions clean as a whistle.

However, they came close to defeat last week at the hands of the Kabuki Warriors and tonight, Bliss & Cross will take on the two Japanese sensations in a match for the WWE Women's Tag Team titles.

Given that the opposition is clearly of a far higher quality, one has to wonder whether Alexa Bliss will resort to her dirty old tactics or whether she'll actually try winning the match the honourable way.

#2. Is Samoa Joe on the verge of a major collision course?

Samoa Joe was proven innocent last week....but at what cost?

The Roman Reigns attacker mystery is taking all sorts of twists and turns and the man in scrutiny right now happens to be none other than Rowan. Basically, on Monday Night RAW, Samoa Joe was adamant to prove his innocence and when he went to confront Roman Reigns, he witnessed a car trying to hit The Big Dog.

Luckily, Reigns jumped back in on time while a visibly shaken and confused Joe called for help. He was proven innocent and the next night on SmackDown, Roman Reigns gave him a heartfelt apology.

He managed to beat the information out of Buddy Murphy, who revealed Rowan to be the mystery attacker. Rowan assaulted Murphy on the SummerSlam Kickoff show and one can't help but think that things are only going to get sketchier from here.

Samoa Joe is a major witness to what happened and he could pose to be a major threat in all of this. Given that he's been proven innocent, he may have a target on his back and might be the victim of an attack very soon.

#1. New title challengers emerge on the horizon

He did it!

The only title change of the night saw Seth Rollins dethrone Brock Lesnar in a fantastic contest at WWE SummerSlam 2019. It was the main event and Rollins took it to Lesnar like never before.

He had to dig deep but ultimately, he managed to overcome The Beast Incarnate and beat him clean. With him now being a 2-time champion, the question is as to who will step up to the plate and take the opportunity.

However, Seth Rollins isn't the only one who's waiting for a new challenger. AJ Styles beat Ricochet out of contention while Natalya was handily defeated by RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch.

Now that SummerSlam is over, we'll be getting a fresh start with all three of these championships and it'll certainly be interesting to see who steps up to the plate and how they're going to deal with the current champions.

Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch and AJ Styles represent the strongest singles champions that RAW have had in a while - which means that all the rivalries will be exciting.

For Becky Lynch, expect the 4-time Women's Champion Sasha Banks to return and enter title contention right off the bat.